Material handling machine



y 1936-v J. COGITO ET AL MATERIAL HANDLING MACHINE Filed Dec 21, 1955 5Sheets-Sheet 1 3 PM W 1 L A H O H G O C [m MATERIAL HANDLING MACHINE 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 21, 1935 May 26, 1936. J. coerro ETQAL2,042,388

MATERIAL HANDLING MACHINE Filed Dec 21, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 LIIPatented May 26, 1936 UNITED STATES MATERIAL HANDLING MACHINE JosephCogito and William ingrassia, Washington, D. 0.

Application December '21, 1935, Serial No. 55,648

7 Claims.

This invention is a material handling machine, for carrying any kind ofmaterials to the exact location desired. More specifically, the machineis capable of being used:

A. As a derrick of the runway or conveyor type, where the load issuspended from a carriage which travels along the underside of the boom.

B. As a machine for mixing concrete, and taking it directly from themixer and delivering it directly into the forms, particularly into formsat some elevation. This is a specific use of the derrick of the runwayor conveyor type.

C. As a derrick of the hoist D. As a digger, using a grab bucket of theclam shell, orange peel or other suitable type.

The most important feature ofthe invention is that the boom, along theunderside of which rolls a carriage supporting a suspended bucket, hasits outer part set at an angle to the boom proper, this angle, when theboom is upwardly inclined, being toward the horizontal, the anglebetween the" boom and this angular extension being capa bleof variationwithin quite a wide range, although in the preferred embodiment of theinvention it may be of the order of 25 to This angle may be fixed, thatis, the extension may, in effect, be integral with the main part of theboom, or the angular extension may be pivoted on the end of the mainpart of the boom, so that the angle may be changed at will. 7

The invention comprises a number of other improved structural features,which will be described below. I

The invention will now be discussed under the four headings mentionedabove.

A. Use of the machine as a derrick of the runway or conveyor type Theboom in the apparatus is preferably one where the load supportingcarriage rolls along the underside of the boom. From this loadsupporting carriage may be suspended any suitable type of load, such forexample, as a bucket for handling sand, gravel or the like, an electro-B. Use of the machine for handling concrete It has been the practice ofthe industry, in

handling concrete, to provide a concrete mixer, which mixes the concreteand delivers it into a bucket. Then a separate machine, such as aderrick or hoist, raises the bucket to a hopper, which is usually on atower and dumps the concrete in the hopper, from which it passes bygravity down inclined chutes into the forms.

According to the present invention, applicant combines the derrick,hoist and 'the concrete mixer into a single piece of apparatus, thederrick boom being mounted on the concrete mixer and provided with atravelling bucket into which the concrete is discharged directly fromthe mixer. The machine then hauls the bucket up the boom and out to theend of the angular extension which is directly over and close to theforms, the bucket dumping the mixed concrete directly into the forms,thereby eliminating the use of the commonly used tower, eliminating theuse of a separate hoist, and of the chutes used with the tower. It alsoeliminates the necessity of having one or more workmen, which is usuallynecessary, to push the concrete from the hopper along the chutes intothe forms.

7 An important feature here is that by virtue of the angular extensionwhich bends toward the horizontal, the bucket can be stopped at a pointdirectly over and quite close to the forms or other place of deposit, sothat the concrete can be dumped directly into the forms or other desiredlocation. If a longer, straight boom were used, the bucket might behoisted to a point over the forms, but this would put the bucket so highover the forms that it would be too far for a direct dumping, or else itwould involve a separate cable for lowering the bucket, which undulycomplicates the apparatus because the bucket must be of the type whichrolls along the underside of the boom, this being necessary so that itcan take concrete directly from the mixer.

By reason of the ability of this apparatus to dump the concrete in apractically vertical drop directly into the forms, without the use ofchutes, a relatively dry mix can be used, so that the resulting concreteis very much stronger than if a wet mix were used. In the prior art,where chutes are used, the concrete needs to be mixed quite wet so thatit will flow along the chutes. This excess water results in a weaker andless satisfactory concrete than if a drier mix were used.

Another important advantage of the angular that form, which would bequiteimpossible with extension is this: With a straight boom, and withany type of load such as bucket, stone, scrap, etc., especially if theboom is at a steep angle, when the carriage supporting the bucket ishauled up near the end of the boom preparatory to dumping, it is quitedifiicult to hold the load or bucket infixed position, byreason of thestrong gravity pull. 'The load can, of course, be held by a brake, butthebrake must be very strong and must be applied promptly and strongly.With the present invention, however, and even when the boom proper is atasteep angle, the angular extension,

which bends toward the horizontal enables the load supporting carriageto go out on the angular extension so that the part of the boomsupporting it is nearly horizontal, so that very little, if any, brakingeiTect need be used to hold it"there. There is, therefore, practicallyno danger of slippage of the load, even. when the boom proper is thelateral overhang attained by virtue of the angular extension, toward thehorizontal with this invention, the boom in effect reaches overlaterally and puts thebucketin a position where it can be dumpeddirectly into the form.

To put the matter in another way, consider two booms of equal length,one straight and the other provided an extension bending toward thehorizontal; when both booms are at a relatively steep angle, (and thesteeper the angle, the greaterthis efiect) the boom of this inventionwill, in effect, reach out laterally and hold the bucket over a form anddump the concrete directly into the straight boom unless a tower, hopperand a chute were used. With the apparatus of this invention, whichdelivers the concrete directly'to .the forms, the use of hoists andtowers is in many instances eliminated, which not only eliminates theinitial cost of these hoistsand towers, but the very substantial costsof moving them from place to place, either on the same job or on anotherjob. The labor charge involved for mov 1 ing the towers and hoists isvery substantial.

Furthermore, by reason of the fact that ap plicants apparatus willdeliver the concrete directly from the mixer into the forms-or otherdesired location, the use of chutes is'eliminated, thereby eliminatingtheir initial cost, eliminating the labor'involved in moving them fromone place to another, andelimina'ting the labor usually necessary inmanually pushing the concrete along the chute s into the forms.

The angular extension described above may be ata fixed angle; or. inanother aspect of the in! vention, it may be adjustable, as will bedescribed more in detail. jThe angular extension may be of any lengthdesired. It might be as long as the boom proper, but, practicallyspeaking, it is-usual-' ly shorter than the boom proper.

0.. Use of theapparatus as a derrick of the j hoisttype Inthis aspectofthe invention, the cable that is used for moving the carriage may bedisconnectedfrom the carriage and this cable secured to the load forhoisting it to the point desired. The ability of the machine to beconverted readily D. Use of the apparwtus'as a digger Another importantuse of-the invention is in handling material which is susceptible ofbeing handled in a bucket of the clam shell or other types.

porting carriage that travels along the underside of the boom, isdisconnected from the carriage and is secured to the bucket of the clamshell or other suitable type which, of course, would be thensuspendedfrom the end of the boom. A second operating cable for closing theleaves of the bucketis then run over suitable sheaves to a drum on themachine proper and the apparatus can then be used for digging, pickingup and handling material'such as coal, sand, gravel or dirt, or anysimilar type of material that can be handled with this type of bucket.

The main features of the inventionhaving been thus outlined, furtheradvantages of construction and operation will be described in moredetail in the accompanying drawings illustrating several preferredembodiments of the invention.

In these drawings: I V Fig. 1 is a side view of a part of a materialhandlingmachine of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the end of the boom; Fig. 3 shows one means forchanging the angle of the extension forming the end of the boom;

Fig. 4'shows another way of changing the angle of the angular extensionforming the end of the boom; is f Fig. 5 is a side view somewhat similarto Fig. 1, showing the apparatus in use as .a digger, using In thisaspect of the invention the cable that is fastened to the underside ofthe load supa grab bucket of the clam shell or orange peel Fig. 6 is amodification showing an improved a cable suspension for the boom,especially for heavy loads; 7

Fig. 7 is a view on a reduced scale showing a different type of A-framefor supporting the boom; and

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating theylateral gain efiect of the angularextension on the boom.

Referring now to these figures, in which similar reference charactersindicate similar parts, the apparatus comprises a frame 2, mounted on amobile base 3, as is well understood in this art, 6

so that it can move from place to place, preferably under its ownpower.- Mounted on rthis frame 2 is a rotary drum concrete mixer 4having a discharge chute 6, for discharging mixed concrete directly into.a bucket 8 provided with the usual downwardly opening dumping doors I0.

The frame 2 of the apparatus serves to support a frameindicatedgenerally at I 2, and a boom l4, pivoted to the frame for up and downandlateral movement,- as is well understood in this art; Boom I4 is ofthe channeled type, being shaped in cross section about like an I-beam;onthe lower flanges of the boom, the load supporting carriage l6travels, engaging the lower'flanges of the boom tion between the bucketand the lower side of the boom when the boom is extendingupwardly at asteep angle;

The raising and lowering of the boom is effected by a cable 26controlled by a power drum 28 provided with a conventional brake 30. Thecable 26 passes around sheaves 32 on the frame I2 and 34 on the boom, asshown. Sheaves 32 are carried in a pivoted bearing 33, so as to followthe lateral movements, of the boom.

The load supporting carriage I6 is hauled up the-boom by a cable 36which is detachably secured to the carriage by the coupling 38.

As shown in Fig. 1, the boom proper I4 is provided with an angularextension 40 and the pro vision of this angular extension is one of thevery important features of this invention. The angle between the boomproper and the extension 48 may be varied considerably and may be of theorder of 25 to 45, although it may be made larger or smaller than thisamount. Furthermore, the length of the angular extension 40 may bevaried as desired. In practice, however, the length of the extension 48would generally not exceed 50% of the length of the boom proper. Theangle between I4- and 40 is bridged by an easy curve 42 so that the loadsupporting carriage It can take the curve and readily pass out to theend of the extension 40. In Fig. 1 the extension 40 is shown rigid withthe boom proper l4, so that in this particular form the angle is notadjustable.

The power cable 36 passes through an eye 44 one, carriage 46 which rollsalong the upper flange 48 on the angular extension, the purpose of thisbeing to keep the cable 36 more or less parallel to the boom l4. Thecarriage 46 moves back and forth in the path of least resistance, beingmoved by the cable 36.

The cable 36 passes around a one-way or multiway sheave 50 at the end ofthe extension 40, thence around .a sheave 52 to a power operated drum 54provided with a conventional brake.

Fig. 3 shows a modification where the angle between the extension 40a.and the boom proper may be varied. This is done by a cable 56, one endof which is secured at 58 to the boom proper, from whence it passes oversheave 52, around one channel of multi-way sheave 50, thence aroundsheave 34 to a suitable power operated drum on the frame 2 such, forexample, as 60.

The angular extension 40 is pivoted to the end of the boom 14 in anyconvenient manner as by bearings 62 and a pivot shaft 64. Aspringpressed bumper 66 may be mounted at the end of the angularextension.

Another Way of changing the angle between the boom and the extension 40ais shown in Fig. 4. In this case there is a pivotal connection betweenthe two, including a rigidly mounted shaft 68 at the end of the boomproper, this shaft having fixed thereto a sector 10 of a worm gear, withwhich engages the worm 12 which is turned by a shaft 14 terminating inan operating handle 16. It is evident that rotation of the shaft 14 andworm 12 carried by the extension, working against the sector 10, willchange the angle of the angular extension.

Referring to Fig. 1, it is evident that concrete can be delivereddirectly from the mixer into the bucket 8 and carried out to the end ofthe angular extension, which reaches over a form, from whence theconcrete may be dumped directly into the form without the use of adistributing hopper or gravity chutes. This, as has been explained, is avery important feature of this invention because iteliminates the hoist,tower, the chutes, and the labor involved in moving such tower and.chutes from place to place on the job.

The lateral reach or overhang effect. is illustrated in the diagram inFig. 8. A straight boom is shown at 80, while a boom of the same lengthprovided with an angular extension. is shown at 82, the extreme ends ofthe booms be ing respectively indicated at 80 and 82. "The lateral gainor overhang effect is shown by the distance between vertical linesdropped from the points 80 and 82 in the various positions of the boom.It is quite clear from a consideration of Fig. 8 that this lateral gain,indicated generally by G, increases as the boom approaches the verticalposition and is particularly marked when the boom is at a very steepangle. This enables the boom to carry a bucket of concrete to anelevation considerably above the level of the mixer, then to move itlaterally over the'forms so that it is close enough to the forms fordumping it directly into them, without the hazard of a long drop betweenthe bucket and the forms, and without the necessity of having a separatecable for lowering the bucket from the end of the boom down to the form.

Another advantage at once evident is that when the load supportingcarriage runs out onto the angular extension 40 which is more nearlyhorizontal than the boom proper, it will almost stay there by itself, orin any event, it can be held there with a much less braking effect thanis necessary if the boom were straight, because, obviously, if the boomwere straight there would be a strong tendency for. the loaded bucket toslip back down the boom unless the brake on the power drum were stronglyand promptly applied.

Reference will now be made to Fig. 5 H1115? trating the use of theinvention as a digger. In this form of the invention, the parts aresubstantially the same as shown in Fig. 1, while the angular extensionof the boom may have its angle fixed as in Fig. 1 or variable as inFigs. 3 and 4.

In order to use the apparatus as a digger, the carriage hauling cable 36is disconnected from the carriage l6 and is operatively secured to agrab bucket, conventionally illustrated at 84, of the clam shell oforange peel type, preferably; the cable 36 passes around a sheave 86 onthe bucket and is secured to the end of the angular extension. A secondcable for controlling the opening and closing of the leaves or jaws ofthe grab bucket is shown at 88, this cable being connected up to thebucket in a conventional manner and passing 'over one wheel of multi-waysheave 50 and to a power operated drum 98pmvided with a brake. Thisapparatus is operated in a conventional manner, With the leaves of thegrab bucket 84 open, both cables are slacked off and the bucket droppedinto the material, then cable 88 closes the bucket and both are raisedto take up the load. Then with cable 88 locked, the bucket is loweredand the effect is to open the bucket to dump the load, as is wellunderstood in this art.

The important feature of this aspect of the invention is that themachine shown in Fig. 1 for handling concrete can be converted into adigger by the relatively slight changes described above, therebyenabling a contractor with the one piece of apparatus to do two jobs.

When it is desired to use the apparatus as a hoist, the cable 36 ofFigs. 1 and 5 instead of being connected to a grab bucket is simply at-V tached to the load, whatever it maybe, and the.

- vides a machine by means of which a contractor v proper may be variedat will.

' plumb pivot master '96 and the boom between can use the machine as aderrick and thereby eliminates the expense of a derrick. Referringto'Fig. 6, cable 36 is shown handling a load 90,

Referring further to Fig. 6, the boom may be made in two parts I4a,andMb connected by a splice 92. Evidently by changing the lengths ofsections Ma and Nb the length of the boom Fig. 6 also shows an A-frameindicated generally at' 94 and including a plumb pivot master 96 whichis pivotally mounted in upper and lower bearings 98 to turn on its ownaxis. In" this form of the invention the angle of the angular extension40a is controlled by a cable analogous to the cable 56 of Fig. 3 andhere indicated as 56'. One end of the cable is secured to a standardI00; the cable then passes aroundone channel of the multi-way sheave 50and over a sheave Iron 96 to a conventional power-operated,brake-controlleddrum I04. V

'The boom proper is supported by a cable I06, one end of which may besecured to the boom; the cable then passes back and forth between thesheaves I08 at spaced points along the plumb pivot master and sheaves III] at spacedpoints along the boom, thecable passing to a conventionalpower-operated, brake-controlled drum I09. This arrangementdistributesthe strain on the'boom to a plurality of points along itslength and so will enable a boom of a given strength to support aheavier load.

Fig. 7 shows a boom Mprovided with a plurality of sheaves i I0 at spacedpoints therealong,

the cable I06 in this case passing back and forth between these sheavesand a multi-way sheave I I 2 which is freely pivoted at the upper end ofan A-frame lld supported on frame 2 of the apparatus, the frame H4 inthis case inclining away from the boom, instead of toward it as in Fig.6. This backward slant of the frame H4 gives a better distribution ofthe weight on the frame of the apparatus.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described insomedetail, it should be understood that the invention is not to belimited to these details but may be carried out in other ways.

We claim: V V r 1. A material handling machine, comprising incombination, a boom swingable up'and down, the boom also serving as arail along which a loadsupporting carriage may travel, the outer portionof said boom being extended at an angle to the main portion thereof andbending toward the horizontal when the main portion is upwardlyinclined, the angle betweenthe angular extension and' the prolongationof the axis of the boom being of the order of 25 to 45, whereby the lateral or horizontal reach of the boom is substan- 7 tiallyincreased overa straight boom of the same length, a load supporting carriage adaptedto travel along the boom and onto the angular'extension, said'angularextension, in the normal,

upwardly inclined working positions of the boom,

being always more nearly horizontal than the boom proper,'whereby thetendency of the carriage to slip backwardly down the boom is lessened oreven eliminated when the carriage is positioned on said angularextension, and drum and boom. r

'2. A material handling machine, comprising in combination, a boomswingable up and down, the

boom also serving as a rail along which a load-fsupporting carriage maytravel,the outer portion of said boom being extended at an angle to themain portion thereof and bending toward the horizontal when the mainportion is upwardly inclined, the angle between the angular extensionand the prolongation of the axis of the boom being of the order of 25 to45?, whereby the lateral or horizontal reach of theboom is substantiallyincreased over a straight boom of the same length, means for varying theangular relation between said angular extension and the boom proper, aload supporting carriage adapted to travel along the boom and onto saidangular extension, said angular extension, in the normal, upwardlyinclined working positions of the boom; being always more nearlyhorizontal than the boom proper, whereby the tendency of the carriage toslip backwardly down the boom is lessened or even eliminated when thecarriage is positioned on said angular extension, and drum and cablemeans for moving said carriage along the boom.

3. -In a material'handling' machine, a boom pivoted at its lower end forswinging movement,

the boom also serving as a rail along which a' load-supporting carriagemay travel, cable means cooperating with the boom for handling a'load,

the boom being provided with a downward angular extension at the outerportion thereof, the angle between the angular extension and theprolongation of the axis of the boom proper, being substantially lessthan ninety degrees, and a load boom and out onto the angular extensionto a load-delivering position, said angular extension, in the normal,upwardly inclined working positions of the boom, being always morenearly horizontal than the boom proper 4. A material handling machinecomprising in combination, a swingable boom adapted also to serve as arail and trackway fora load-supporting carriage, the outer end of theboom being provided with a downward angular extension, the trackwaybeing continued onto said angular extension, and a load-supportingcarriage adapted to travel along the boom and out onto the angularextension, said angular extension substantially increasing thehorizontal reach of the boom, and substantially decreasing the tendencyof the supporting carriage adapted to travel along the V load-supportingcarriage, when said carriage is positioned on said extension, to slipbackwardly down the boom. V

5. In a concrete handling machine comprising a concrete mixer, aswingable boom adapted also to serve as a rail and trackway for abucket-supporting carriage, the outer end of the boom being providedwith a downward angular extension, the

trackway beingcontinued onto said angular ex-'- tension, abucket-supporting carriage adapted to travel along the boom and ontosaid angular extension and adapted to position a bucket to re-, ceiveconcrete from the concrete mixerfsaid angular extension serving toincrease'the horizintal reach of the boom for facilitating the detoserve as a rail and trackway for a bucket-supporting carriage, the outerend of the boom being provided with a downward angular extension, thetrackway being continued onto said angular extension, means for varyingthe angular relationship between the boom and said angular extension, 2.bucket-supporting carriage adapted to travel along the boom and ontosaid angular extension and adapted to position a bucket to receiveconcrete from the concrete mixer, said angular extension serving toincrease the horizontal reach of the boom for facilitating the deliveryof concrete directly into forms, and serving to decrease the tendency ofthe bucket-supporting carriage, when said carriage is positioned on saidextension, to slip backwardly down the boom.

'7. In a concrete handling machine including a concrete mixer, thecombination of a pivotally mounted combined boom and rail, the outer andupper end of which is at an angle to the main portion thereof, andextends downwardly, means for varying the angular relationship betweenthe main portion of the boom and rail, and said angularly disposed outerend, a load-supporting carriage adapted to be supported by the combinedboom and rail and to travel along it and out onto said angularlydisposed outer and upper end thereof, and a bucket supported by saidload-supporting carriage.

JOSEPH COGITO. WILLIAM INGRASSIA.

